The Secret of Southsun, ArenaNet’s newest content for Guild Wars 2, is now in full swing. This event gives players a reason to come back to the deadly Karka infested island of Southsun Cove. Sure you can farm it, but it’s been a pretty boring island since the Lost Shores event. Now players are tasked with keeping the peace on the island, as tension builds between the Consortium and Refugees.
Dynamic events have always littered the island of Southsun Cove. But new ones have been added to help expand on the new event’s story. You’ll see some riots break out, and things get pretty crazy. You’ll have to hold refugees back from causing mischief. I felt bad beating them up. These new events are far too few. While Crab Toss will add some life to the event, I felt like the refugees and consortium would butt heads way more than what we see. The build it made it sound like things were way worse than they are.
Tons of new achievements have been added with this update. The weird thing is how easy it is to obtain them. You can grab a few just by hearing some gossip, or jumping into a pool. If you get enough of these achievements, you’ll be rewarded with the strangest looking back piece in the game. If you want a sea creature with tentacles to cling to your back, you may want to look into these achievements. It should only take you about 45 minutes to run and grab them all.
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I would prefer to have a Karak Headcrab helm skint instead of a new back piece.
Players are also tasked with finding plant samples scattered throughout the island. It’s a relatively simple task, completed by using a neat gun. The locations have you walking around several areas of the island you’ve probably already visited before. Each sample will also unlock an achievement. You’re rewarded with a nice flower back piece for all your trouble. It seems the focus of this event is giving players more achievement points, and back pieces.
With the Consortium now once again in the spotlight, players can obtain crates full of goodies. A new booster has been added, letting you swim at a faster pace. Not the greatest booster out there. You may also find a new mini pet, which right now is going for a hefty price on the market. 40 gold for half naked humans, wow! Weapon skins have also been added, and this is probably the only thing that really deserves attention. The new set shows weapons with a living aspect. Slime drips down each weapon, and a strange eye stares out at you. It’s kind of creepy, but I like it! The crates are of course obtained with gems, or if you’re lucky enough, enemies in Southsun will drop them.
WvW has been getting a lot of attention lately. Ever since ArenaNet has addressed the culling issue, players have been joining in to prove their server is the best. This patch includes a new feature called traps. These traps really change the game, making your old strategies fall apart.
Two types of traps have been added, the first being the Supply Removal Trap. Commanders are going to both love, and hate it. What it does is take away the supplies of enemy players that happen to run into, and trigger, the trap. A large group of players need supplies to build their siege weapons to take out gates and walls. Without those supplies, a group of players don’t have the potential to take towers quickly, giving their enemy a chance to counterattack. Expect Commanders to make more supply checks.
The next trap is called the Stealth Disruptor Trap. Mesmers are a great resource to have on your team. Their ability to cloak themselves and teammates are used for ambush tactics, and also infiltration. Finally having the ability to negate the effects of stealth is really going to make some Mesmers very angry.
These traps are really going to cause groups to change their current playbook. Your old tricks may no longer work. But never forget, even though you could trigger a trap, you can lay some down for your enemies as well. What will be interesting is if new traps come out in future patches. Could we see traps that fire off shrapnel? How cool would it be to have a trap that causes fear to a large group of enemies?
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If nothing else, your character might enjoy relaxing on the beach.
We were lucky getting two updates this month. The island of Southsun Cove has gone through some changes, giving players a reason to return. But I feel like the return is too short. Maybe I was expecting too much, and I know this wasn’t suppose to be a huge update, but just having a focus on easy achievements was kind of a let down. Keep note that some of the new achievements can’t be obtained at the moment. It seems that a dungeon like instance may be right around the corner. I hope so, because that would really turn things around for this event.
David North / David North is a freelance writer for MMORPG.com. David loves to play and makes games, but now he writes about them! If you want to creep on him and make fun of his ability to draw, follow him over on twitter @David_the_North.
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